Wessagusset Colony
Encyclopedia
Wessagusset Colony was a short-lived English
trading colony in New England
located in present-day Weymouth, Massachusetts
. It was settled in August 1622 by between fifty and sixty colonists who were ill-prepared for colonial life. After settling without adequate provisions and harming relations with local Native Americans, the colony was dissolved in late March 1623 with surviving colonists joining Plymouth Colony
or returning to England. It was the second settlement in Massachusetts, predating the Massachusetts Bay Colony
by six years.
Called by historian Charles Francis Adams, Jr. "ill-conceived, "ill-executed, [and] ill-fated", the short-lived colony is best remembered for the battle (some say massacre) there between Plymouth troops led by Miles Standish and an Indian force led by Pecksuot
. This battle scarred relations between the Plymouth colonists and the natives and was fictionalized, two centuries later, in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
's 1858 poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish
.
In September 1623, a second colony led by Governor-General Robert Gorges
was created in the abandoned site at Wessagusset. This colony, rechristened as Weymouth, was also unsuccessful and Governor Gorges returned to England the following year. Despite that, some settlers remained in the village and it was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony
in 1630.
which, fifteen years earlier, had funded the short-lived Popham Colony
in modern Maine
. During the period when the Pilgrims were in the Netherlands, Weston helped to arrange the colonists' passage to the New World with help from the Merchant Adventurers
. Historian Charles Francis Adams, Jr. writing in 1870s glowingly called him a "sixteenth century adventurer" in the mold of John Smith
and Walter Raleigh
and that his "brain teemed with schemes for deriving sudden gain from the settlement of the new continent". In later years, Plymouth Governor William Bradford called him "a bitter enemy unto Plymouth upon all occasions."
The primary purpose of Weston's new colony was profit, rather than the religious reasons of the Plymouth settlers, and this dictated how the colony would be assembled. Weston believed that families were a detriment to a well-run plantation and so he selected able-bodied men only but not men experienced in colonial life. In total, there were several advanced scouts and fifty to sixty other colonists. The final complement also included one surgeon and one lawyer. The party was outfitted with enough supplies to last the winter.
. After arriving at the coast of Maine, they traveled the final 150 miles (241.4 km) in a shallop with three members of the Sparrows crew. These colonists stayed only briefly in Plymouth before scouting the coast in their shallop to find a site for their colony. After finding one, they negotiated with the sachem
Aberdecest for the land and returned to Plymouth, sending the shallop and her small crew back to the Sparrow, and awaited the remainder of the colonists.
The main body of colonists set off from London in April 1622 on board two ships, the Charity and the Swan. Richard Greene
, Thomas Weston's brother-in-law, was the initial leader of the group. The group arrived in Plymouth in late June and moved into their settlement the following month. By the end of September, the colony was established, the Swan moored in Weymouth Fore River
, and the Charity returned to England.
At first, the relationship between the two groups was cordial and the men of the Wessagusset assisted Plymouth with their harvest, but they were accused of stealing from the elder colony. Shortly after relocating to Wessagusset, angry Indians complained to Plymouth that the colonists were stealing their corn. In response, Plymouth could only send a "rebuke" to the new colony. Because of the disorder of the colony, as subsequently reported by Plymouth's Governor Bradford, Wessagusset was consuming food too quickly and it became apparent that they would run out before the end of the winter. In addition, Plymouth was also low on supplies due to spending additional time during the growing season building fortifications, rather than growing crops.
To prevent hunger or famine for both colonies, Plymouth and Wessagusset colonists organized a joint trading mission with the natives with goods brought by the Wessagusset colonists. That trading mission was somewhat successful and the two colonies split the proceeds. In November, Greene died and John Sanders was made governor of the colony. By January, the colonists continued to trade with the natives for food, but at a severe disadvantage. This drove up the barter-price of corn and they were forced to trade their clothes and other needed supplies. Some colonists entered a form of servitude, building canoes and performing other labors for the natives, in exchange for food. Ten colonists died. After an incident where one settler was caught stealing by the natives, the colonists hanged him in their view as a show of good faith. However, sources disagree whether the man hanged was the culprit and the colonists may have hanged an older, possibly dying man, instead. The legend that the Wessagusset colonists hanged an innocent man was later popularized by a satirical depiction of this event in Samuel Butler
's 1660s poem Hudibras
. In February, Sanders petitioned to Plymouth for a joint attack on the natives, but this was rejected by Plymouth's governor.
Throughout the winter, tensions continued to build between the settlers at Wessagusset and Plymouth and the natives. Perhaps in response to the Wessagusset thefts against them, there was at least once instance where a native was caught stealing from Plymouth. Near the end of the winter, the natives near Wessagusset moved some of their huts to a swamp near the colony. At least some of the colonists felt that they were under siege.
One colonist at Wessagusset, seeing these signs and other indications of hostility, fled to Plymouth to bring word of an imminent attack. Adding to his desperation and the perception of imminent hostility, he was pursued by natives during his flight. Arriving at Plymouth on March 24, he met with the Governor and town council. It is unclear whether this colonist's report was the tipping point, or whether Plymouth had already decided to mount a preemptive attack. Plymouth's Edward Winslow
had recently been warned by Massasoit
, a sachem whose life he saved using English medicine, of a conspiracy of several tribes against Wessagusset and Plymouth. The threatening tribes, he was told, was led by the Massachusett
but also included the Nauset
, Paomet
, Succonet
, Mattachiest, Agowaywam, and Capawack tribes from as far away as Martha's Vineyard
. In either case, Plymouth colony sent a small force under Miles Standish to Wessagusset. They arrived there on March 26.
Standish called all of the Wessagusset colonists into the stockade for defense. The following day, several natives including the local chief, Pecksuot
, were at Wessagusset. Historical sources give different accounts of the killings. In some manner, four of the natives, including the local chief, were in the same room as Standish and several of his men. One source, from the 1880s, suggests that it was the natives that arranged to be alone with Standish to allow them to attack the colonist. Others sources state that it was Standish who had invited the natives into the situation on peaceful pretenses. When four of them, including the local chief, were in a room within the village, Standish gave the order to strike, quickly killing Pecksuot with his own knife. Several other natives in the village were attacked next; only one escaped to raise the alarm. As many as five Englishmen were also killed in the brief battle and one native's head was cut off, to be displayed in Plymouth as a warning to others.
In 1858, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
included a fictionalized depiction of the killings in his epic poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish
. In his version, the Indians are depicted as begging for weapons with which to use against other tribes. Standish responds by offering them bibles. After being the target of boasts and taunts by the Indians, Standish attacks first:
in Casco Bay
in a home built by explorer Capt. Christopher Levett
, who had been granted land to found an English colony. (Levett's settlement also failed, and the fate of Weston's men is uncertain.)
Due to the fighting at Wessagusset, Plymouth trade with the Indians was devastated for years. Local tribes which had previously been favorable to Plymouth, began to forge bonds with other tribes in defense against the English. This latent hostility would eventually boil over during the Pequot War
and later, King Philip's War
. Historians differ on whether the conflict could have been avoided or the colony saved. Some historians saw the preemptive strike as a necessary one, "saving the lives of hundreds", while others see it as a sad misunderstanding. Speaking shortly after the 150th anniversary of the colony, historian Charles Francis Allen summarized the Wessagusset experience as "ill-conceived, "ill-executed, [and] ill-fated".
was sponsoring a new colony for New England. A patent for a settlement covering 300 square miles (777 km²) of what is now north-east Boston Bay
was given to an English captain and son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges
, Robert Gorges
. This settlement was intended to be a spiritual and civil capital of the council's New England colonies. Gorges was commissioned as Governor-General with authority over Plymouth and presumably future colonies. His government was also to consist of a leadership council, of which Plymouth's Governor Bradford would be a member. Unlike Weston, who had brought only working men, Gorges brought families intending for a permanent settlement. And unlike the Puritans, Gorges brought the Church of England
with him, in the form of two clergymen who would oversee the spiritual health of the region.
Gorges arrived in Massachusetts in September 1623, only four months after Weston's colony collapsed. Instead of founding his colony at the location described in the patent, he instead chose the abandoned settlement at Wessagusset for his site. It was rechristened Weymouth
after Weymouth, Dorset, the town where the expedition began. Over the following weeks, he visited Plymouth and ordered the arrest of Thomas Weston who had arrived in that colony in the Swan. This was his only official act as Governor-General. Weston was charged with neglect in his colony and with selling weapons were supposed to have been used for the defense of the colony. Weston denied the first charge, but confessed to the second. After consideration, Gorges released Weston "on his word" and he eventually settled as a politician in Virginia and Maryland.
After wintering in Weymouth, Gorges abandoned his new colony in the spring of 1624 due to financial difficulties. Most of his settlers returned to England, but some remained in as colonists in Weymouth, Plymouth, or Virginia. The remaining Weymouth settlers were supported by Plymouth until they were made part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
in 1630. Massachusetts Bay Governor John Winthrop
visited the settlement in 1632. In time, the location of the original settlement was lost to history and development. The location of the original fort was not rediscovered until 1891.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
trading colony in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
located in present-day Weymouth, Massachusetts
Weymouth, Massachusetts
The Town of Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, Weymouth had a total population of 53,743. Despite its city status, it is formally known as the Town of Weymouth...
. It was settled in August 1622 by between fifty and sixty colonists who were ill-prepared for colonial life. After settling without adequate provisions and harming relations with local Native Americans, the colony was dissolved in late March 1623 with surviving colonists joining Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
or returning to England. It was the second settlement in Massachusetts, predating the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
by six years.
Called by historian Charles Francis Adams, Jr. "ill-conceived, "ill-executed, [and] ill-fated", the short-lived colony is best remembered for the battle (some say massacre) there between Plymouth troops led by Miles Standish and an Indian force led by Pecksuot
Pecksuot
Pecksuot was a chief of a Massachusett tribe in the early 17th century until his death in 1624. He was killed in the battle at Wessagusset Colony by Miles Standish. His death has been immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem The Courtship of Miles Standish....
. This battle scarred relations between the Plymouth colonists and the natives and was fictionalized, two centuries later, in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
's 1858 poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish is an 1858 narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about the early days of Plymouth Colony, the colonial settlement established in America by the Mayflower Pilgrims.-Overview:...
.
In September 1623, a second colony led by Governor-General Robert Gorges
Robert gorges
Robert Gorges was a Captain in the English navy and briefly Governor-General of New England from 1623 to 1624. He was the son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges...
was created in the abandoned site at Wessagusset. This colony, rechristened as Weymouth, was also unsuccessful and Governor Gorges returned to England the following year. Despite that, some settlers remained in the village and it was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
in 1630.
Origins
The colony was coordinated by Thomas Weston, a London merchant and ironmonger. Weston was associated with the Plymouth Council for New EnglandPlymouth Council for New England
The Plymouth Council for New England was the name of a 17th century English joint stock company that was granted a royal charter to found colonial settlements along the coast of North America....
which, fifteen years earlier, had funded the short-lived Popham Colony
Popham Colony
The Popham Colony was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America that was founded in 1607 and located in the present-day town of Phippsburg, Maine near the mouth of the Kennebec River by the proprietary Virginia Company of Plymouth...
in modern Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. During the period when the Pilgrims were in the Netherlands, Weston helped to arrange the colonists' passage to the New World with help from the Merchant Adventurers
Company of Merchant Adventurers of London
The Company of Merchant Adventurers of London brought together London's leading overseas merchants in a regulated company, in the nature of a guild. Its members' main business was the export of cloth, especially white broadcloth...
. Historian Charles Francis Adams, Jr. writing in 1870s glowingly called him a "sixteenth century adventurer" in the mold of John Smith
John Smith of Jamestown
Captain John Smith Admiral of New England was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania and friend Mózes Székely...
and Walter Raleigh
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
and that his "brain teemed with schemes for deriving sudden gain from the settlement of the new continent". In later years, Plymouth Governor William Bradford called him "a bitter enemy unto Plymouth upon all occasions."
The primary purpose of Weston's new colony was profit, rather than the religious reasons of the Plymouth settlers, and this dictated how the colony would be assembled. Weston believed that families were a detriment to a well-run plantation and so he selected able-bodied men only but not men experienced in colonial life. In total, there were several advanced scouts and fifty to sixty other colonists. The final complement also included one surgeon and one lawyer. The party was outfitted with enough supplies to last the winter.
First Wessagusset colony
An advance team of several settlers arrived at the Plymouth Colony in May 1622. They had voyaged to the new world on board the Sparrow, an English fishing-vessel which was sailing to the coast of modern-day MaineMaine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. After arriving at the coast of Maine, they traveled the final 150 miles (241.4 km) in a shallop with three members of the Sparrows crew. These colonists stayed only briefly in Plymouth before scouting the coast in their shallop to find a site for their colony. After finding one, they negotiated with the sachem
Sachem
A sachem[p] or sagamore is a paramount chief among the Algonquians or other northeast American tribes. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms from different Eastern Algonquian languages...
Aberdecest for the land and returned to Plymouth, sending the shallop and her small crew back to the Sparrow, and awaited the remainder of the colonists.
The main body of colonists set off from London in April 1622 on board two ships, the Charity and the Swan. Richard Greene
Richard Greene (colonist)
Richard Greene was the first Governor of Wessagusset Colony in New England, located in modern-day Weymouth, Massachusetts. He died at Plymouth colony after having only governed the ill-fated Wessagusset colony for a few months since its creation in July. He was the brother-in-law of Thomas Weston,...
, Thomas Weston's brother-in-law, was the initial leader of the group. The group arrived in Plymouth in late June and moved into their settlement the following month. By the end of September, the colony was established, the Swan moored in Weymouth Fore River
Weymouth Fore River
Weymouth Fore River is a small bay or estuary in eastern Massachusetts and is part of the Massachusetts Bay watershed.The headwater of Weymouth Fore River is formed by the confluence of the Monatiquot River and Smelt Brook in the Weymouth Landing area of Braintree...
, and the Charity returned to England.
At first, the relationship between the two groups was cordial and the men of the Wessagusset assisted Plymouth with their harvest, but they were accused of stealing from the elder colony. Shortly after relocating to Wessagusset, angry Indians complained to Plymouth that the colonists were stealing their corn. In response, Plymouth could only send a "rebuke" to the new colony. Because of the disorder of the colony, as subsequently reported by Plymouth's Governor Bradford, Wessagusset was consuming food too quickly and it became apparent that they would run out before the end of the winter. In addition, Plymouth was also low on supplies due to spending additional time during the growing season building fortifications, rather than growing crops.
To prevent hunger or famine for both colonies, Plymouth and Wessagusset colonists organized a joint trading mission with the natives with goods brought by the Wessagusset colonists. That trading mission was somewhat successful and the two colonies split the proceeds. In November, Greene died and John Sanders was made governor of the colony. By January, the colonists continued to trade with the natives for food, but at a severe disadvantage. This drove up the barter-price of corn and they were forced to trade their clothes and other needed supplies. Some colonists entered a form of servitude, building canoes and performing other labors for the natives, in exchange for food. Ten colonists died. After an incident where one settler was caught stealing by the natives, the colonists hanged him in their view as a show of good faith. However, sources disagree whether the man hanged was the culprit and the colonists may have hanged an older, possibly dying man, instead. The legend that the Wessagusset colonists hanged an innocent man was later popularized by a satirical depiction of this event in Samuel Butler
Samuel Butler (poet)
Samuel Butler was a poet and satirist. Born in Strensham, Worcestershire and baptised 14 February 1613, he is remembered now chiefly for a long satirical burlesque poem on Puritanism entitled Hudibras.-Biography:...
's 1660s poem Hudibras
Hudibras
Hudibras is an English mock heroic narrative poem from the 17th century written by Samuel Butler.-Purpose:The work is a satirical polemic upon Roundheads, Puritans, Presbyterians and many of the other factions involved in the English Civil War...
. In February, Sanders petitioned to Plymouth for a joint attack on the natives, but this was rejected by Plymouth's governor.
Killings at Wessagusset
One colonist at Wessagusset, seeing these signs and other indications of hostility, fled to Plymouth to bring word of an imminent attack. Adding to his desperation and the perception of imminent hostility, he was pursued by natives during his flight. Arriving at Plymouth on March 24, he met with the Governor and town council. It is unclear whether this colonist's report was the tipping point, or whether Plymouth had already decided to mount a preemptive attack. Plymouth's Edward Winslow
Edward Winslow
Edward Winslow was an English Pilgrim leader on the Mayflower. He served as the governor of Plymouth Colony in 1633, 1636, and finally in 1644...
had recently been warned by Massasoit
Massasoit
Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin ,was the sachem, or leader, of the Pokanoket, and "Massasoit" of the Wampanoag Confederacy. The term Massasoit means Great Sachem.-Early years:...
, a sachem whose life he saved using English medicine, of a conspiracy of several tribes against Wessagusset and Plymouth. The threatening tribes, he was told, was led by the Massachusett
Massachusett
The Massachusett are a tribe of Native Americans who lived in areas surrounding Massachusetts Bay in what is now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in particular present-day Greater Boston; they spoke the Massachusett language...
but also included the Nauset
Nauset
The Nauset tribe, sometimes referred to as the Cape Cod Indians lived in what is present-day Cape Cod, Massachusetts, living east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely related neighbours, the Wampanoag...
, Paomet
Paomet
Paomet was a tribe of Native Americans living near the Pamet River in modern Cape Cod in the 1620s....
, Succonet
Succonet
Succonet were a tribe of Native Americans living near modern Falmouth, Massachusetts in the 1620s....
, Mattachiest, Agowaywam, and Capawack tribes from as far away as Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....
. In either case, Plymouth colony sent a small force under Miles Standish to Wessagusset. They arrived there on March 26.
Standish called all of the Wessagusset colonists into the stockade for defense. The following day, several natives including the local chief, Pecksuot
Pecksuot
Pecksuot was a chief of a Massachusett tribe in the early 17th century until his death in 1624. He was killed in the battle at Wessagusset Colony by Miles Standish. His death has been immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem The Courtship of Miles Standish....
, were at Wessagusset. Historical sources give different accounts of the killings. In some manner, four of the natives, including the local chief, were in the same room as Standish and several of his men. One source, from the 1880s, suggests that it was the natives that arranged to be alone with Standish to allow them to attack the colonist. Others sources state that it was Standish who had invited the natives into the situation on peaceful pretenses. When four of them, including the local chief, were in a room within the village, Standish gave the order to strike, quickly killing Pecksuot with his own knife. Several other natives in the village were attacked next; only one escaped to raise the alarm. As many as five Englishmen were also killed in the brief battle and one native's head was cut off, to be displayed in Plymouth as a warning to others.
In 1858, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
included a fictionalized depiction of the killings in his epic poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish is an 1858 narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about the early days of Plymouth Colony, the colonial settlement established in America by the Mayflower Pilgrims.-Overview:...
. In his version, the Indians are depicted as begging for weapons with which to use against other tribes. Standish responds by offering them bibles. After being the target of boasts and taunts by the Indians, Standish attacks first:
Aftermath
Following the brief conflict, Standish offered to leave several soldiers to defend the colony, but the offer was rejected. Instead, the colonists divided: some, including John Sanders, returned to England in the Swan, while others remained behind and joined the Plymouth colony. By spring of 1623, the village was empty and the colony was dissolved. Thomas Weston arrived in Maine several months later, seeking to join his colony, only to discover that it was already failed. Some of his former settlers apparently had gone north to Maine, and were living on House IslandHouse Island
House Island can refer to:*House Island, Maine, a private island Portland Harbor in Casco Bay in Maine, United States*House Island , an island in Tangier Sound in Maryland, United States...
in Casco Bay
Casco Bay
Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth...
in a home built by explorer Capt. Christopher Levett
Christopher Levett
Capt. Christopher Levett was an English writer, explorer and naval captain, born at York, England. He explored the coast of New England and secured a grant from the King to settle present-day Portland, Maine, the first European to do so. Levett left behind a group of settlers at his Maine...
, who had been granted land to found an English colony. (Levett's settlement also failed, and the fate of Weston's men is uncertain.)
Due to the fighting at Wessagusset, Plymouth trade with the Indians was devastated for years. Local tribes which had previously been favorable to Plymouth, began to forge bonds with other tribes in defense against the English. This latent hostility would eventually boil over during the Pequot War
Pequot War
The Pequot War was an armed conflict between 1634–1638 between the Pequot tribe against an alliance of the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies who were aided by their Native American allies . Hundreds were killed; hundreds more were captured and sold into slavery to the West Indies. ...
and later, King Philip's War
King Philip's War
King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...
. Historians differ on whether the conflict could have been avoided or the colony saved. Some historians saw the preemptive strike as a necessary one, "saving the lives of hundreds", while others see it as a sad misunderstanding. Speaking shortly after the 150th anniversary of the colony, historian Charles Francis Allen summarized the Wessagusset experience as "ill-conceived, "ill-executed, [and] ill-fated".
Second Wessagusset colony
At approximately the same time, the Plymouth Council for New EnglandPlymouth Council for New England
The Plymouth Council for New England was the name of a 17th century English joint stock company that was granted a royal charter to found colonial settlements along the coast of North America....
was sponsoring a new colony for New England. A patent for a settlement covering 300 square miles (777 km²) of what is now north-east Boston Bay
Boston Bay
Boston Bay may refer to:*Boston Bay, Illinois*Port of Boston, Massachusetts*Boston Harbor, Massachusetts* Boston Bay, Port Lincoln, South Australia* Boston Bay, Portland Parish, JamaicaSee also* The Boston Bay State Banner...
was given to an English captain and son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges
Ferdinando Gorges
Sir Ferdinando Gorges , the "Father of English Colonization in North America", was an early English colonial entrepreneur and founder of the Province of Maine in 1622, although Gorges himself never set foot in the New World.-Biography:...
, Robert Gorges
Robert gorges
Robert Gorges was a Captain in the English navy and briefly Governor-General of New England from 1623 to 1624. He was the son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges...
. This settlement was intended to be a spiritual and civil capital of the council's New England colonies. Gorges was commissioned as Governor-General with authority over Plymouth and presumably future colonies. His government was also to consist of a leadership council, of which Plymouth's Governor Bradford would be a member. Unlike Weston, who had brought only working men, Gorges brought families intending for a permanent settlement. And unlike the Puritans, Gorges brought the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
with him, in the form of two clergymen who would oversee the spiritual health of the region.
Gorges arrived in Massachusetts in September 1623, only four months after Weston's colony collapsed. Instead of founding his colony at the location described in the patent, he instead chose the abandoned settlement at Wessagusset for his site. It was rechristened Weymouth
Weymouth, Massachusetts
The Town of Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, Weymouth had a total population of 53,743. Despite its city status, it is formally known as the Town of Weymouth...
after Weymouth, Dorset, the town where the expedition began. Over the following weeks, he visited Plymouth and ordered the arrest of Thomas Weston who had arrived in that colony in the Swan. This was his only official act as Governor-General. Weston was charged with neglect in his colony and with selling weapons were supposed to have been used for the defense of the colony. Weston denied the first charge, but confessed to the second. After consideration, Gorges released Weston "on his word" and he eventually settled as a politician in Virginia and Maryland.
After wintering in Weymouth, Gorges abandoned his new colony in the spring of 1624 due to financial difficulties. Most of his settlers returned to England, but some remained in as colonists in Weymouth, Plymouth, or Virginia. The remaining Weymouth settlers were supported by Plymouth until they were made part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
in 1630. Massachusetts Bay Governor John Winthrop
John Winthrop
John Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of...
visited the settlement in 1632. In time, the location of the original settlement was lost to history and development. The location of the original fort was not rediscovered until 1891.